Last month, we read news about the pastor of a very large non-denominational church committing suicide after a long struggle with depression and other mental issues. We knew it was the absence of the power of Holy Spirit in his life – and probably in the lives of most of his congregation – that was the basis of his difficulties. Leaders of all kinds of religious organizations easily become disillusioned when they compare their years of efforts and devotion with the fruit (or lack of) in their personal lives and in the lives of their members.

After considering the situation, we felt compelled to visit the congregation on a day when they were holding a collective “processing” kind of meeting whereby leaders and members alike sought to deal with the impact of the tragic event. We sought the Lord, asking Him to lead us to people to speak to and encourage toward the fullness of the gospel message.

It was a very interesting day. We sat amongst the people as they sang and listened to words spoken from the platform, and while some attempted to pray. We began speaking with those closest to us and word must have gotten out quickly that we were preaching something different from their all-encompassing beliefs as we soon had many security guards watching us closely. We didn’t let this faze us, though. By the end of our time there, we were able to share the truth with eight people – including the new head pastor, one lady was filled with the Holy Spirit as we prayed over her, and we were able to encourage one already Spirit-filled gal that was suffering under the oppression of the church group (she knew the truth about the need to be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, but every time she brought up this subject – especially the subject of speaking in tongues – she was quenched).

It was a challenging yet spiritually profitable day, and we want to thank the Lord for leading us to do this work for Him.